The Music
by Miguels-Lover
Summary: Jou has had a hard life, but when he hears a particular type of music, he knows it's all about to become a whole lot worse... Rated for mentions of Abuse Very angsty!
1. The Music

Disclaimer- I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh

Warnings- Mentions of abuse and violence

Okay well, this is a very angsty fic, (or at least I think it is,) and it's also the first story I've written without a happy ending or a happy ending to be. It's kinda depressing but well, just read and review, kay?

**The Music**

Jou shivered, tightly wrapping his arms around himself as he slid down the wall he was leaning on for support, his eyes wide and filled with horror and sheer fear.

He was safe, safe in his room, with his own personal space, surrounded by his own personal items, this was his room, so he was safe right?

Wrong, Jounouchi Katsuya was never safe when the man he knew so well and hated with so much of his heart was in a particular _mood_…

It was when **that** music was played, the music he remembered so much from his childhood, whenever that particular music was played, his Father was depressed, unhappy and currently drowning his sorrows with Vodka and any other alcohol he could get a hold of.

It may have seemed stupid, even weak of the blonde, but whenever he heard the music play, the music he related to so much pain, hurt and fear, he was petrified, and he knew it… He was petrified to the spot, and there was nothing he could do about it…

He shivered once again, but this time it was a lot more violent than the previous, he pulled his knees close to his chest, pulling them even closer with shaking arms before bowing his head and burying it away in an attempt to block the music out.

Memories were racing through his mind, spreading like wildfire, he was trying to block them out, ignore them and forget about them but it seemed impossible, it seemed the past was always there to haunt him…

_Will you shut up about her boy! She's gone and there's nothing we can do about it!_ A muscular man smacked his seven-year old son across the face, he blinked in shock, stepping back as realisation sunk in of what he had just done.

The young blonde gazed up at his father with teary eyes; terrified- his Father had never actually hurt him before, this was the first time, but why?

The senior Jounouchi narrowed his eyes, glancing down at the hand he had used to strike the boy, before breaking out into a sadistic smirk, scaring his son.

He casually walked over to the stereo, switching some loud music on, it thudded so loudly, Jou could barely hear anything else now aside from the constant beat echoing throughout the apartment, and because of his lack of hearing, he didn't notice his Father walk over to him and kick him in the stomach roughly, sending the little blonde flying, smashing against the wall behind him.

What was going on? One moment he's living in a happy family, his mother and father are in blissful love and he and his younger sister Shizuka are happily playing with each other, the next his mother declares she doesn't love their father anymore and divorces him, taking Jou's sister away from him and leaving him with a man who seemed to be gaining more and more enjoyment from beating his defenceless and terrified seven-year old son.

The little blonde screamed as he felt one of his rips snap, before heavily choking on the blood, which had somehow made its way up his throat.

He weakly glanced up at his Father who was now towering over him with an evil and dangerous glint in his dirt brown eyes, amusement and curiosity obvious in his proud smirk.

Then, everything became a blur, a blur mixed into darkness…

A single silvery tear made a trail down the blonde's cheek, he was so scared, the worst part was waiting for it to come, the fear of the unknown, the fear of waiting for the pain and torture to strike him at any time.

Suddenly, the door to his bedroom swung open, and a man staggered in, a bottle of Vodka tightly clutched in his right hand, "…It's your fault…" the man stated simply, before stumbling over to his petrified son, a sadistic smirk played on his worn face.

Jou shuddered, tears streaming down his delicate face, the music… the music… The pain's not caused by my father; it's caused by the music…


	2. Hiding the Pain

Disclaimer- Me no own Yu-Gi-Oh, wish I did though… I may ask for it for X-mas even! Yay! What a cool x-mas present, eh?

Warnings- Mention of abuse and violence

APOLOGISES! I'm so sorry people! I know it's taken me like ten weeks or something to update each and every (Yu-Gi-Oh) fanfiction of mine, but yes, I have finally done it! It's all because of school, now that I'm in my pre-senior year I get a TON (or so) of homework every night and I just really didn't have any time for anything aside from homework! But currently I'm in the middle of my October Holidays, meaning I can finally update all my fanfiction, yay! And for the next five weeks after these two weeks I'll probably get tons of homework as those weeks as my revision weeks, then I have my two weeks of Exams, then the next week I'm not at school but doing this thing where I work for a company, then there's only two weeks left before X-mas! So HOPEFULLY I'll be able to update much sooner before December, especially for my Halloween story!

So once again, I'm sorry for taking so long, but thanks for being patient!

This is to all my readers and reviewers.

_(This note has been posted in every story's Author's Note.)_

Please read and review!

* * *

Crimson liquid lay in a pool around an unconscious form; the ruby-coloured liquid had managed to die the form's clothing and hair into a sickening colour and continued to flow from the deep cuts and slashes across the abdomen, chest, legs, arms and face of the motionless soul. 

Music has a way of controlling people's emotions and decisions, whether it is the fast beat of a dance song, the smooth rhythm of a classical song or even the heavy tempo of a rock metal song- music is a powerful thing.

Ripples started to form, as the once-was lifeless body shook slightly, shivering at the cold breeze blowing throughout the badly kept apartment. Caramel-brown eyes gradually opened, blinking a few times as the adjustment to the morning light passed.

After only a few rapid moments, Jou was able to tell where he was and what had previously happened, it was the usual; his Father had been drowning his sorrows with alcohol, then had come through and beat into Jou for about an hour or possibly more (obviously Jou had lost track of time.)

It was always the same, whenever that particular music played he knew what was going to happen, he knew he was going to feel the usual pain he felt, he knew it was going to be a living hell for him…

A loud yelp echoed throughout the worn-out home of the Jounouchi's as Jou realised that his injures had not yet healed quite enough for him to even properly move without severe agony.

It had turned out the previous night had been one of the worst- his Father had chosen to use a weapon to assist with the beating, that weapon being a rather sharp knife, which was dragged across the blonde's body many times, each time causing the teenage boy to scream at the slicing of skin he felt.

He forced himself up with weak arms, wincing at the surges of pain throughout his aching body, before pulling himself into a cautious kneeling position.

This was definitely one of the worst pains he had ever experienced, he was starting to think it would have been better to just let himself drown in his own blood- then there would be no more pain to worry about.

Finally, after a long moment's pause he pushed himself up, instantly gripping onto the doorframe for support, noting that his legs seemed to be growing a little numb in some areas. He steadily ambled out of his room, weakly glancing around in hope that his Father would be out, and it would seem Jou was correct as he stumbled over to the bathroom, placing all his weight on the sink once he reached it.

Raising his head, he frowned in disgust at the site before him, the site of a young teenage blonde covered in dry and old blood, with a dark blue-almost black bruise surrounding his half-lidded right eye, and a deep slash running from his ear down across his cheek and ending near his chin- this was him, this was Jounouchi Katsuya.

Averting his gaze away from the mirror, he glanced down at the sink, turning the tap on as he removed himself of his sticky t-shirt, which was currently drenched in blood.

He tossed the top carelessly to the side, sending a glance down to his black and blue body, wincing once he realised one of the much deeper cuts was still spilling out the precious substance which he had grown accustomed to finding on the walls, floors and his own body.

Cleaning his wounds and washing the blood off himself, he got dressed into his school uniform- sure he'd much prefer staying home in bed and giving himself time to heal, but when you have an abusive father who is most likely going to be your future murderer, you'd much rather spend a day at school in pain than at home and in fear of your own life.

Now tidied up, he glanced at his reflection once more, the blood was now all gone but the dark bruise and deep cut remained, he was going to get a lot of questions asked once he was at school, he'd just have to make up some form of lie once again- he hated lying to his friends but his Father gave him no choice, if he told anyone or if anyone found out, his Father had threatened to kill him.

Sighing heavily, he exited the bathroom, slowly and carefully making his way towards the kitchen, hoping to maybe find some food for once, but then again, that rarely ever happened.

He searched each and every cupboard, but they were all bare and empty, sure there were quite a few empty _and_ full bottles of alcohol lying about, but that was the least thing Jou wanted to have at this moment in time, or for that matter, ever- Jou despised alcohol, it was a liquid which caused people to grow angry, violent and dangerous, why people enjoyed drinking the crap Jou did not know.

Sighing once more he gave up on his search, leaning against the kitchen counter before noticing something rather large and black from the corner of his eye. He twisted his head around, suddenly frowning at the item as he stomped over closer to it.

He flipped the lid of the Stereo open, picking up the CD inside it; he shuddered as the music played inside his head… God damn he hated that bloody music, it was almost like a warning to Jou, warning him to run or to hide, of course he had never managed either of the choices before, he had always been found or caught and punished for his escape attempts also.

Growling lowly he shoved the disc inside his school bag, this was the music that caused him so much pain and torture, it reminded him of his past and his present, it sent his Father further into depression, but without the CD, maybe there would be no pain? No hurtful memories? No abusive father? No music…

Jou's eyes lit up at the thought, the thought of a normal life once again, before dulling once more as he threw a glance to his watch- time for school.

Pulling his bag over his shoulder he left the apartment, sparing no second glances to the place he was forced to name home, as he prayed to the Gods that maybe, just maybe, his life could be normal and painless once again…

* * *

Thanks go to:- 

xSwtLilAngel666X, Hikari-Aoi, DreamCherry66, joeyluver-dragonofra, GrowingPain, InuIceWolf, citruspeach and FlameSwordswoman

You all reviewed my story, and I decided to continue on with it.

Now I need your help! Should I turn this story into a Seto x Jou fic (as I'm a big Seto x Jou fan) or would people prefer I keep it mainly on Jou and about his hellish life? All comments and suggestions welcome!

Finally, the genre of music is up to you all, you can all decide in your own minds what the music that Jou hates so much sounds like- it's up to you! (I will never mention what the music sounds like during the fic.)


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